LBN *Extra* Blog

FREEDOM:

The Great Divorce

By DAVID BROOKS

I’ll be shocked if there’s another book this year as important as Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart.” I’ll be shocked if there’s another book that so compellingly describes the most important trends in American society.

Murray’s basic argument is not new, that America is dividing into a two-caste society. What’s impressive is the incredible data he produces to illustrate that trend and deepen our understanding of it.

His story starts in 1963. There was a gap between rich and poor then, but it wasn’t that big. A house in an upper-crust suburb cost only twice as much as the average new American home. The tippy-top luxury car, the Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, cost about $47,000 in 2010 dollars. That’s pricey, but nowhere near the price of the top luxury cars today.

More important, the income gaps did not lead to big behavior gaps. Roughly 98 percent of men between the ages of 30 and 49 were in the labor force, upper class and lower class alike. Only about 3 percent of white kids were born outside of marriage. The rates were similar, upper class and lower class.

Since then, America has polarized. The word “class” doesn’t even capture the divide Murray describes. You might say the country has bifurcated into different social tribes, with a tenuous common culture linking them.

The upper tribe is now segregated from the lower tribe. In 1963, rich people who lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan lived close to members of the middle class. Most adult Manhattanites who lived south of 96th Street back then hadn’t even completed high school. Today, almost all of Manhattan south of 96th Street is an upper-tribe enclave.

Today, Murray demonstrates, there is an archipelago of affluent enclaves clustered around the coastal cities, Chicago, Dallas and so on. If you’re born into one of them, you will probably go to college with people from one of the enclaves; you’ll marry someone from one of the enclaves; you’ll go off and live in one of the enclaves.

Worse, there are vast behavioral gaps between the educated upper tribe (20 percent of the country) and the lower tribe (30 percent of the country). This is where Murray is at his best, and he’s mostly using data on white Americans, so the effects of race and other complicating factors don’t come into play.

Roughly 7 percent of the white kids in the upper tribe are born out of wedlock, compared with roughly 45 percent of the kids in the lower tribe. In the upper tribe, nearly every man aged 30 to 49 is in the labor force. In the lower tribe, men in their prime working ages have been steadily dropping out of the labor force, in good times and bad.

People in the lower tribe are much less likely to get married, less likely to go to church, less likely to be active in their communities, more likely to watch TV excessively, more likely to be obese.

Murray’s story contradicts the ideologies of both parties. Republicans claim that America is threatened by a decadent cultural elite that corrupts regular Americans, who love God, country and traditional values. That story is false. The cultural elites live more conservative, traditionalist lives than the cultural masses.

Democrats claim America is threatened by the financial elite, who hog society’s resources. But that’s a distraction. The real social gap is between the top 20 percent and the lower 30 percent. The liberal members of the upper tribe latch onto this top 1 percent narrative because it excuses them from the central role they themselves are playing in driving inequality and unfairness.

It’s wrong to describe an America in which the salt of the earth common people are preyed upon by this or that nefarious elite. It’s wrong to tell the familiar underdog morality tale in which the problems of the masses are caused by the elites.

The truth is, members of the upper tribe have made themselves phenomenally productive. They may mimic bohemian manners, but they have returned to 1950s traditionalist values and practices. They have low divorce rates, arduous work ethics and strict codes to regulate their kids.

Members of the lower tribe work hard and dream big, but are more removed from traditional bourgeois norms. They live in disorganized, postmodern neighborhoods in which it is much harder to be self-disciplined and productive.

I doubt Murray would agree, but we need a National Service Program. We need a program that would force members of the upper tribe and the lower tribe to live together, if only for a few years. We need a program in which people from both tribes work together to spread out the values, practices and institutions that lead to achievement.

If we could jam the tribes together, we’d have a better elite and a better mass.

LBN-HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

Morgan Fairchild (62)
Tallulah Belle Willis (18)
Sean Kingston (22)
Daddy Yankee (35)
Isla Fisher (36)
Elisa Donovan (41)
Warwick Davis (42)
Maura Tierney (47)
Linda Eder (51)
Thomas Calabaro (53)
Nathan Lane (56)
Lee Ranaldo (56)
Brenda Dickson (63)
Blythe Danner (69)

“I realized a long time ago that a belief which does not spring from a conviction in the emotions is no belief at all.” – Evelyn Scott

Coping With a Disaster or Traumatic Event

“The effects of a disaster, terrorist attack, or other public health emergency can be long-lasting, and the resulting trauma can reverberate even with those not directly affected by the disaster. This page provides general strategies for promoting mental health and resilience. These strategies were developed by various organizations based on experiences in prior disasters. Site produced by the Centers fo Disease Control and Prevention.”

David Choe, Facebook’s Millionaire Graffiti Artist by Jimmy So:

David Choe must have had a Kafkaesque morning, waking up to find himself changed in his bed into a monstrous millionaire. Seven years ago, the graffiti artist painted murals on the walls of Facebook’s first offices in Palo Alto, California, and, according to The New York Times, he was paid in stock optionsWednesday night, the social network announcedFacebook wall in the realm of, reportedly, 3.77 million shares. On that it will seek an initial public offering, and at an estimated $53 a share, you can do the math on Choe’s net worth. (He clearly did.) “Huge Congrats!! David,” a friend wrote on his Thursday morning. “Goddamn, are koreans smart or what!” another posted.

Whatever its other accomplishments, the metamorphosis of Choe’s IOU into millions of dollarsgreatest artist?” (You were expecting: “What will you do with the money?” Who cares? It’s not your immediately addresses the obvious and always-essential question: “Is David Choe a great artist, or the money.)

The answer, in case you’re wondering, is “$200 million.” Consider that the oil-rich nation of Qatar just bought the most expensive painting ever—one of the Cézanne Card Players—for $250 million. Before this hot-blooded sale, the closest anyone ever came was a $140-million purchase in 2006, and it was a Jackson Pollock. A de Kooning sold for $137.5 million in the same bullish, pre-recession year; a Klimt, too, for $135 million. Van Gogh is up there, and so is Renoir. And Picasso. And Warhol. It’s quite good company, and Choe is right up there, with the silver medal. (Although, to be fair, Choe’s work wasn’t sold in auction, and there’s little way of knowing whether other privately owned art ever changed hands secretly for much more money than that.)

Born in Los Angeles in 1976 to Korean immigrant parents, Choe told online magazine Pixelsurgeon that he was introduced to graffiti when he was encouraged to channel his teenage anger—hitherto exhibited through bike thefts and shoplifting—by spraying graffiti on bus benches and alleyways. He began drawing at an early age, and in an autobiographical essay in his 2010 monograph, he wrote that “in my art class frank sinatra’s grand daughter [sic] sat to my right and sammy davis jr.’s adopted son sat to my left.” From the text, one gets a sense of his ambivalence toward his Korean heritage and an urge to justify a destructive proclivity: “I hated everyone and was filled with an intense rage and anger mostly towards Persians and privelleged [sic] kids who didn’t understand humility. … The idea of anarchy ruled me … 2 weeks later it all came true.”

LBN-In Memory of Lana Clarkson on the 9th Anniversary of Her Murder by Phil Spector:

by Ed Lozzi

On  February 3rd 2003, nine years ago, actress/comedienne, producer, Lana Clarkson’s life ended. She was brutally tortured and murdered when a gun was fired into her beautiful face by fading music producer and notorious gun abuser Phil Spector.

Lana is gone forever. Her memory will last for many years with her friends and fans. Nine long years have passed and her murderer is in prison for 20 years and no longer a threat to society. He is 72 now.  Most likely he will die there.

The evidence that Spector murdered Lana was overwhelming including his many contradictory statements. The witnesses, friends, and law enforcement officials bound together to face Spector in this final fight for his life. Even though many of Lana’s friends had been muzzled by threats from her family’s misguided lawyers, and told not to speak to the media on her behalf, there were enough of us to ignore that and support Lana to the media. Unfortunately her family remains quiet under their lawyer’s puzzling direction.  Lana deserved more than that. It’s not about the wrongful death money case that is coming up…it was all about getting justice for murder at his criminal trial. It was about putting Spector away to protect society-not just about putting money in lawyer’s pockets for wrongful death litigation. The Friends of Lana Clarkson, and their success in speaking to the media and educating them and their readers on who Lana Clarkson was—-became a priority. The campaign remains successful and fulfilling.

We knew that no amount of stalling, filing, maneuvering, or fabricating by “Team Spector”, including Spector’s lawyers, paid experts, hangers-on, and spousal publicity stunts, would deprive us of  the inevitable trial outcome – Conviction! We wanted lifetime incarceration for a gun crazy murderer, who according to testimony at his first trial, repeatedly victimized other women with loaded guns put in their faces. It has been learned that many many important people came forward to the DA after many years of fear and gun threats from Spector, and filed complaints against him, including Debbie HarryMichele Phillips from the Mammas and Poppas. But only 5 women, who were assaulted by him with a deadly weapon, were allowed to testify and rightly so as the Supreme Court of California and the 9th Court of Appeals have ruled overturning Spector’s Appeals.

LBN-Hi Dad…it’s Me by Tracy McCormick:

Dad,

It’s been 7 months today since I heard your voice in real time. It’s been the weirdest 7 months of my life. I can’t even imagine what it’s been like for you these last months as well.

There are those that say the saddest things humans brings experience are divorce, or the death of a partner or child. In my humble opinion, the loss of the parent is right in there as well.

When I filled for divorce (ever so blessed by your advice & support) in 2004 it was hell on earth. Yet, it was one of the wisest and most courageous decisions I have ever made. I bloomed from that difficult choice.

You and Mom have always been my champions. I am a women who can say that I truly have experienced what I feel is unconditional love from other humans, my parents. You were, and continue to be a GREAT Dad. A man of intelligence, wit, kindness, and compassion. All of us ‘kids’ and your grandchildren will always carry you in our smiles and spirits as we walk through our lives.

My heart bleeds for Mom everyday. You are right there with her. She feels you. I know that you fought to make your 45^th wedding anniversary. Daddy, you made it. You fought that insidious disease for well over 2 years with barely a complaint. You were a bit grouchy when you missed cocktail hour with your crew, yet you listened to your physicians and took care of Tom. I am so grateful to have spent so much time with you and Mom the last few years. The hospital , driving around Milwaukee to the random places the ‘Chevy Pilot’ made us go, cooking for you, listening to your stories hearing your laugh, seeing you smile. Oh God, how I miss your smile.

I see your smile everyday. I feel your spirit all the time. When my friend Pam stopped by for coffee last week and we sat chatting on my patio, I heard you whistle. I saw you in your garden. I know you are out of the horrible pain that cancer brings and are growing the biggest zucchinis in the solar system. Raspberries as well! You shared that you had some human regret. It doesn’t matter Dad. The passions you feel that you didn’t follow in this life were instilled in your kids. In  ME. You know, and you know that I know. It’s so very comforting to feel you around me.

I will keep writing to you. You keep whistling daddy.

I love you,

Tracy

LBN-COMMENTARY By NICOLAS BAKALAR:

A single blood pressure test, or even several readings over a short period of time, may not be enough to gauge the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Many researchers predict a subject’s risk for cardiovascular risk with a single blood pressure reading, but a new study has tracked blood pressure over 14 years beginning at age 41 in more than 61,500 men and women, most not taking blood pressure medicine. The paper was published last week in Circulation.

Men who developed hypertension during middle age had a 70 percent lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease or stroke, compared with a risk of 35 percent among men who had lower blood pressure.

Among women, those who had hypertension from age 41 through 55 had a lifetime risk of 49 percent, compared with 22 percent among middle-aged women with lower blood pressure.

“This study has shown that changes in the blood pressure early in middle age affect your lifetime risk,” said the lead author, Norrina Allen, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University. “We need to think about hypertension much earlier in life, around age 40.”

About 30 percent of men and 40 percent of women had increasing blood pressure over the 14 years; about a fifth of men and a tenth of women had decreasing readings.

LBN-REALLY?:

By ANAHAD O’CONNOR

THE CLAIM

Grief can cause a heart attack.

THE FACTS

The emotional pain of losing a loved one can take a toll on the heart, at least metaphorically. But can it trigger an actual heart attack?

In a large new study, scientists have confirmed what the medical world has long suspected: The so-called broken heart syndrome is real. The study, published on Monday in circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found that a person’s heart attack risk is 21 times higher than normal the day after a loved one dies.

Over time the risk of an attack declines, but it remains elevated within that first month. In the first week after a loved one’s death, for example, the risk was six times higher than normal, said Elizabeth Mostofsky, the lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

“If a bereaved person is having symptoms like chest pain, they shouldn’t simply say. ’Oh I’m dealing with the stress right now’ and ignore it” she said.

Other studies have uncovers greater heart and mortality risks in the weeks and months after the loss of a spouse, a child or another loved one, but the new study is  the first systematic look at the immediate effect. The researchers interviewed nearly 2,000 hospitalized for heart attacks over a five-year period and controlled for variables like health and history of disease.

Those with previous heart risk factors were more vulnerable, but the odds increased even for those with no coronary history. Dr. Mostofsky pointed out the bereavement could provoke depression, anger and anxiety, all of which can elevate the heart rate and blood pressure and increase blood clotting.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Losing a loved one heightens the risk of a heart attack.